DIY fitness: Barre teacher gets an early start at his home gym

Art Sheldon hits the gym at 4:30 in the morning, three out of every four days.

Of course, he doesn't have too far to travel. The “gym” is in the basement or the garage or the backyard of his home in rural Barre.

Sheldon, who teaches health and physical education at Quabbin Regional High School, likes to get his workouts done early so he can get on with his day. Whatever else might be in store for him, once the exercise is done, he feels as though he has accomplished something.

He's been a CrossFit devotee for three years. He likes the program's intense combination of weights and calisthenics because the workouts are effective but also because they are over so quickly.

“One of the workouts takes four minutes (including a warm-up). I can work out in a half hour before work and be a normal human being,” he said.

Sheldon, 44, and his wife, Laurie, a teacher at Ruggles Lane School in Barre, have three children: Colby, 11; Ella, 9; and Sadie, 6.

Besides teaching at Quabbin, Sheldon coaches girls' indoor track at the school and his youngest daughter's town soccer team.

He grew up in Barre and went to Quabbin, where he played soccer and ran track. At Plymouth State College in New Hampshire, Sheldon earned a degree in physical education and exercise physiology. He also did lots of skiing while up north, and has found his interest in the sport renewed now that his kids are getting into skiing and snowboarding.

Through his 20s and 30s, Sheldon ran and did calisthenics for exercise, but now he prefers the challenge and variety of CrossFit. “You can teach yourself to do things you've never done before,” he said, like handstand pushups or so-called muscle-ups, a taxing move on gymnastics rings that hang in his garage.

Five-foot-five “on a tall day,” Sheldon gained 10 pounds since taking up CrossFit, bringing his weight to 150. He still does some running, and recently finished 74th out of almost 1,300 runners in the Worcester Firefighters Memorial 6K, averaging under seven minutes per mile.

He built the exercise space in his home. In the basement, he has a squat rack with “mechanics, consistency and intensity” printed at the top, a bench for presses, 20- and 24-inch-high boxes for jumping, a dip and pull-up station, a rowing machine, treadmill and kettlebells. Workouts and results are posted on a white board, and exercise notes are scribbled on nearby wallboard.

A poster of then-Cassius Clay standing over Sonny Liston after knocking him out in their heavyweight championship bout in 1965 faces the squat rack. In that fight, Clay, later to become Muhammad Ali, finished off Liston in the first minute of the first round.

“It so epitomizes CrossFit,” Sheldon said — fast and furious.

In the garage, Sheldon has the rings, pull-up bars, a climbing rope, a 30-inch box for jumping and a backboard to play wall ball, an exercise where you squat, press, then throw a 20-pound ball against the overhead board. Outside on the back of the garage hangs a 15-foot climbing rope, as well as a rope ladder Sheldon put up for the kids.

Although CrossFit is not formally part of the program at Quabbin, Sheldon said he has worked a bit of it into class warm-ups, with the intensity scaled to each student's level.

“Everyone can finish and feel good about finishing at their own pace,” he said. “My goal's getting met, their goal's getting met.”

Sheldon doesn't talk much to students about his own exercise regimen, though it's obvious he's very fit.

As for his three children, “The kids think I'm nuts,” he said in jest.

No Excuses is a monthly feature that focuses on busy people who manage to make fitness part of their lives. If you or someone you know have figured out how to manage that healthy balance, we'd like to hear about it. Contact us at people@telegram.com.